


Do You Remember?

by Levaaah



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, F/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22324729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Levaaah/pseuds/Levaaah
Summary: Dick Grayson loses his memory from a gunshot-wound to the head, forgetting not only the life he's lead as vigilante Robin and Nightwing, but also his wife and daughter.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	Do You Remember?

_09-06-2020 – Blüdhaven – Melville Section Apartments_

“Wait,” she calls a hand extended towards his back as he retreats, she pauses worrying her lip with her teeth, unsure of what to say. He looks so different, the hair she’d loved to tug and run her fingers through is cut short, the angry red scar is standing out on the side of his head. Even the clothes he’s wearing looks odd on him, even though it’s _his_ clothes. She shifts where she stands, her other hand is still clutching the stuffed bird toy he’d given her just a moment ago. _“For Mary, it’s her birthday, right?”_

She drops her hand to cradle the toy against her chest. “Do you… would you like to come inside? I’ve got coffee.” 

He’s still tense, she can see the outline of his muscles through the t-shirt he’s wearing. His hand on the railing is clutching the metal so hard his knuckles are going white. She holds her breath waiting for a ‘no’. When he releases the railing, she exhales a bit too loudly.

“What about Mary?”

“She sleeps through the night,” Kallie immediately replies, “and she’s a deep sleeper too,” _like you_. She holds back saying the last bit, not wanting him to run. Dick-… Richard turns around, nodding weakly, like he’s not sure if he wants to stay or leave.

She opens the door back into their apartment, gesturing for him to take a seat by the dining table as she quickly starts brewing the coffee. It’s like falling back in an old routine, she moves around the kitchen without a word. Putting the stuffed toy animal at the table, she would give Mary her present when she woke up in the morning.

She knows he’s watching her; she can feel his eyes on her like he’s trying to figure out who she is. She doesn’t know what to say, normally it would be a comfortable silence but now it’s just forced, awkward. 

She doesn’t drink coffee herself, instead she makes a quick cup of tea, the fancy one from Europe that Bruce had bought her as a gift, since she’d liked it so much when they stayed over at the Wayne manor. Once the coffee is done, she pours it up in his cup, her hand pausing slightly as she reaches for it in the cupboard, a teaspoon of sugar, stir slightly and it’s just like he loves it.

She hands the cup over to him and takes a seat herself, keeping her own mug between her hands to warm herself, unnecessarily though, the apartment is perfectly warm already, yet she feels cold.

“Thank you,” he says, taking a sip. His gaze meets her for a moment before he looks away. “It’s good.”

“One teaspoon of sugar,” she replies evenly, “just like you…” she cuts herself off, biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying something that would cause him to retreat, she didn’t want him to… _To what? Remember?_ Of course, she wanted him to remember, the attack he’d suffered had erased his memories of their entire life together. But she didn’t want him to run, not from her, never from her. He doesn’t say anything, just takes another sip of the coffee.

She hates the silence between them. The conflict that bubbles in her head doesn’t help the tension at all. It’s a good couple of minutes of him looking at everything, but her, before he speaks.

“How did we meet?”

She hesitates.

“Do you want to know about the first time or the proper first time?”

He meets her eyes, _-still so very blue-_ , with a raised eyebrow.

“Both.”

“We were fifteen first time we met, I was being mugged in an alley in Gotham, you-… Robin, saved me.” 

Di-Richard reaches up and rubs his fingers over the wound at the side of his head, eyes closing for a moment. Kallie wishes she had powers of telepathy; she wonders what he sees when people describe his past actions.

She reaches for the Superman _‘S’_ necklace that’s still around her neck, putting it on the table in front of them.

“I lost this in the scuffle, you tracked me down and gave it back a couple of days later.”

He reaches out and picks it up, running his thumb over the Kryptonian symbol. He meets her eyes again.

“The proper time?”

“A house party, we didn’t go to the same school, but everyone went to Maggie's parties. I literally stumbled over you and you caught me, you saw my necklace and asked if Superman was my favourite hero. We spent the entire night discussing vigilantes in a quiet corner, you know, the pros and cons, good and bad.” 

She smiles a bit, feeling fondness of the memory, it leaves a bitter taste in her mouth when she realises that there’s no recognition in his eyes, no recollection.

“I know you want me to remember all of this, but I don’t,” his eyes are cold, unrecognizing, something that makes her avert her own eyes, fighting against the tears that’s threatening to build.

“I know,” she murmurs in reply, her voice thick with emotion. “I just-… maybe…” She stops talking, he’d made it very clear he wasn’t Dick Grayson anymore and he didn’t want anyone telling him who he was. She stands up, the chair scrapes the floor behind her, and even Richard jumps at the noise, she grabs the still filled mug of tea, and pours it down the drain, hiding her crying by turning on the tap.

“This was a bad idea,” he mutters, she hears him get up and she knows what’s going to happen next, he’s leaving, will she ever see him again? 

“Dick,” she calls out turning around to face him, he meets her eyes, and although there’s no recognition in who she is, he’s not a cold-hearted bastard. He doesn’t want to hurt her like he is hurting her. She doesn’t need mind-reading powers to see that.

“Ric,” he corrects her, she ignores the stab of pain in her heart.

She reaches up and rubs the tears away from her face, “Y-Yes, sorry. I-I just want to ask…” fumbling through her words she trails off, it makes her angry with herself that she doesn’t know how to speak to him anymore.

He waits, still standing by the table.

“What about Mary?” Kallie’s arms drop to her side, “I understand if you need to… find yourself, but she’s still your daughter, she needs you.” _I need you._

“Does she?” His shoulders slumps, “Isn’t it better for her if I’m not around?”

“She’s a year old,” Kallie bites out feeling white hot fury burn through her, if he didn’t want to try to fix his memories of her- of their time together- that’s fine, she could learn to live with that. But walking out on their daughter? No. Way.

“She won’t remember me-”

“and what do I tell her when she’s five years old and asking where her daddy is?!” Kallie snaps, interrupting him.

He responds to her anger with his own, “I don’t know!” 

Kallie can count on one hand of the number of serious angry argument’s they’ve had throughout their entire relationship. Two hands now, she thinks.

“It’s not good enough Dick- “

“It’s Richard,” he glares at her. She balls her fists up, her entire body tensing as she tries to keep from shaking from the anger that bubbles inside her.

“That’s not the fucking point!” She shouts back, “the point is that you’re as responsible for her as I am! And I will not have you walk out on her!” 

She’s still talking about Mary, not herself. _She is_.

He doesn’t say anything, Kallie is ashamed how long it takes her to realise that she can hear crying from the nursery.

It’s like all the red-hot energy she’s built up to fight him leaves her in an instant.

“I love you,” she says quietly, “I love you so fucking much but if you hurt our daughter, I swear, amnesia will be the least of your concerns.” She turns and leaves towards their crying child before he can offer a reply.


End file.
